International Journal of Aging & Human Development最新文献

Guided by Andersen's behavioral health model, this study examined factors associated with preventive dental service utilization among older Korean-American residents in subsidized senior housing in Los Angeles. All participants were enrolled in Medi-Cal, allowing investigation beyond dental insurance. We focused on predisposing (age, sex, marital status, and socioeconomic status), need (perception of worsening oral health), and enabling factors (acculturation, family network, usual place for dental care, and physical health check-up). Data from 318 participants were analyzed using logistic regression. Results showed that approximately half utilized preventive dental services within the same period. Perception of worsening oral health, acculturation, having a usual place for dental care, and receiving a physical health check-up in the past year were associated with higher odds of using preventive dental services. With low rates of use among older ethnic immigrants with dental insurance, enhancing acculturation, expanding healthcare access, and promoting routine dental check-ups could improve utilization.

Using data from a sample of older Korean Americans (n = 2,150), we examined the prevalence and associated factors of physical, emotional, and financial mistreatment. Given the importance of contextual factors, we examined the effect of immigration-related (years in the U.S. and acculturation) and interpersonal/community-related (family solidarity, social network, and ethnic community social cohesion) factors in addition to sociodemographic and health-related characteristics. The rate of experiencing physical, emotional, and financial mistreatment during the past year was 3%, 37.9%, and 16.1%, respectively. Younger age and lower family solidarity were common risk factors for emotional and financial mistreatment. The experience of emotional mistreatment was also more likely among females and those with higher level of acculturation, smaller social networks, and lower ethnic community social cohesion. Chronic disease was an additional risk factor for financial mistreatment. The findings suggest targeted prevention and intervention strategies for elder mistreatment.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to translate and validate the adolescents' ageism toward older adults scale (AGES) in the Chinese cultural context and examine its psychometric properties among Chinese adolescents. Methods: The study consists of two phases with two separate samples. In phase one (sample 1: n = 407), exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is conducted to determine the factor structure of the C-AGES. In phase two (sample 2: n = 379), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is performed to confirm the factor structure and assess the model fit of the C-AGES. Results: EFA reveals a two-factor structure consisting of 17 items for the C-AGES. CFA in sample 2 confirms the factor structure and demonstrates good model fit. The C-AGES also exhibits high criterion validity, internal consistency, and cross-gender invariance. Discussion: The results suggest that the C-AGES is a valid measurement tool for assessing agism among Chinese adolescents.

Using data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, in this study we provide an alternative explanation for the gap of life satisfaction between living-alone immigrants and Canadian-born older adults. Based on the Big-Five personality traits, we use the latent class analysis to generate two types of social dispositions, social independence and social dependence. With social dispositions taken into account, living alone contributes to life satisfaction in opposite ways for immigrant and Canadian-born older adults, by playing a negative role for the former group and a positive role for the latter. The trend of higher life satisfaction among the living-alone Canadian-born are mainly among the socially independent, whereas for immigrants, socially dependent older adults experience the lowest level of life satisfaction when living alone. Therefore, while socially independent Canadian-born older adults gain a "living-alone premium" in life satisfaction; their socially dependent immigrant counterparts experience a "living-alone penalty" in life satisfaction.

Negative stereotypes of aging, such as dependency, tend to paint a picture of older adults as frail or a burden on society. This study aimed to explore the relationship between the Fear of Dependency Scale and anxiety and depression, evaluating gender, age, and physical health as moderators. Findings suggest that age moderated the relationship between fear of dependency and depression and anxiety in women, with middle-aged women reporting the highest levels of depression and anxiety. Similarly, poor physical health in women with high fear of dependency was related to higher levels of depression and anxiety. Fear of dependency was related to higher levels of depression, but not anxiety in men. Age did not moderate the relationship between fear of dependency and mental health measures, but physical health did moderate the relationship. Men with poor perceived health and a high fear of dependency reported higher levels of depression.

This study aimed to examine the role of childhood neighborhood quality on trajectories of depressive symptoms throughout later life based on a nationally representative sample, and to explore the role of gender in the association. Linear mixed-effects model analysis was performed to investigate a longitudinal association of childhood neighborhood quality with depressive symptoms. A total of 7,016 participants aged 45 and above were included in this study. Depressive symptoms progression was significantly faster (β [95% confidence interval, CI]: 0.13 [0.01, 0.25]; P = .027) in the low childhood neighborhood quality when compared with the high childhood neighborhood quality. The quality of childhood neighborhood was significantly associated with a change in depressive symptoms over time in females (β [95% CI]: 0.19 [0.02, 0.36]; P = .029) but not in males (β [95% CI]: 0.09 [-0.06, 0.25]; P = .224). Targeted interventions should be developed to prevent depressive symptoms for those vulnerable groups.

In 2023, current life expectancy for adults aged 65 and over in Aotearoa/New Zealand ranged from 84.6 to 89.2 years. Mandatory retirement has been abolished, but pension age eligibility remains at age 65. However, some older adults prefer to continue working, often experiencing a mismatch between current and preferred work statuses. The current study used data drawn from the 2020 wave of the New Zealand Health, Work and Retirement study (HWR; N  =  3,916; M_age  =  66.84) to examine associations between work preferences and perceptions of control and independence. We found that those not working but who preferred to work reported the lowest levels of perceived control and independence. Conversely, work preference match and higher levels of perceived control and independence were positively related to life satisfaction. The current study adds to our understanding of the centrality of work status, perceived control, and perceived independence among midlife and older adults, particularly in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Caregivers of older adults with dementia (dementia caregivers) often experience high role overload (i.e., feeling overwhelmed by caregiving demands that exceed available resources), which can take a toll on their mental health. Moreover, dementia caregiving can restrict caregivers' participation in valued social activities. This study aims to examine the mediating effect of social participation restriction on the relationship between role overload and mental health among dementia caregivers. A total of 894 dementia caregivers (mean age = 61.77) were selected from the National Study of Caregiving. The sample was predominantly women (64%) and White (78%). Path analysis shows that social participation restriction partially mediated the associations between (1) role overload and psychological distress (indirect effect β = .08, p < .001) and (2) role overload and psychological wellbeing (indirect effect β = -.05, p < .05). Interventions targeting coping strategies and healthcare-recreation programs are needed to improve social participation among dementia caregivers.

This study examines the association between workplace abuse experienced by care workers at the hands of care recipients and their turnover intentions, as well as the mediating effects of work-related stress and job satisfaction. Compared to care recipients' experiences of abuse, care workers' experiences have been relatively underexplored. Using data from the Korean National Long-Term Care Survey in 2019, the path from workplace abuse to care workers' turnover intentions was examined. Results showed significant mediating effects of work-related stress and job satisfaction in the relationship between workplace abuse and turnover intentions. Findings have policy implications for improving long-term care workers' social awareness and working conditions.

We sought to explore whether genetic risk for, and self-reported, short sleep are associated with biological aging and whether age and sex moderate these associations. Participants were a subset of individuals from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging who had complete data on self-reported sleep (n = 567) or genotype (n = 367). Outcomes included: Intrinsic Horvath age, Hannum age, PhenoAge, GrimAge, and DNAm-based estimates of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and granulocyte count. Results demonstrated that polygenic risk for short sleep was positively associated with granulocyte count; compared to those reporting <6 hr sleep, those reporting >7 hr demonstrated faster PhenoAge and GrimAge acceleration and higher estimated PAI-1. Polygenic risk for short sleep and self-reported sleep duration interacted with age and sex in their associations with some of the outcomes. Findings highlight that polygenic risk for short sleep and self-reported long sleep is associated with variation in the epigenetic landscape and subsequently aging.